A homeowner with no DIY experience turned to YouTube to teach herself to completely transform her "very dated" kitchen - and it cost just £185.
Jane Martin-Smith and her husband Chris moved into their home in Cambridge in October 2020, but Jane says she wasn't happy with the kitchen they inherited, featuring plain white tiles and cabinets, black countertops, grey carpet and uneven walls.
While Chris returned to his job in IT support in January, Jane remained on furlough from her work as a student services manager at a language school and decided to give the transformation a go herself.
Using tutorial videos on YouTube, Jane taught herself to repair holes left in the walls and lay tiles to save herself a fortune.
How the kitchen looked before the renovation work
(Image: Jam Press/Jane Martin-Smith)
Jane did all of the work herself
(Image: Jam Press/Jane Martin-Smith)
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It took eight weeks to complete the overhaul, which included installing a new vinyl floor, new tiles, and turning the once plain cabinets into an on-trend blue with rose gold accents.
Jane, 30, said: "I was furloughed for most of the year, so I decided to use this time to decorate the kitchen.
"It was very dated and generally not pretty - it felt like student rented accommodation, but the budget dodgy landlord kind.
"I had zero experience and just used YouTube videos. I thought to myself 'hey, if I get it wrong, it's my house at the end of the day and I can just tear it down and do it again'.
The finished kitchen
(Image: Jam Press/Jane Martin-Smith)
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"Now it has our own stamp it feels so much better, and feels like our kitchen. When I cook I feel calm, rather than being surrounded by all that mess."
Jane used plasterboard, reinforcing tape and filler to cover up the space left behind by a boiler removal, before pulling off any uneven tiles and laying new ones, using spares stored in the shed.
The cabinets were then sugar-washed and painted blue and the handles were replaced with a more modern rose gold look.
People commented to say the kitchen looked "absolutely stunning"
(Image: Jam Press/Jane Martin-Smith)
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Jane said: "I had never tiled before and there was zero room for error since I had just enough tiles left over, which was kind of stressful.
"The most difficult bit was the floor, which I saw was so uneven after ripping up the carpet. It needed some patching with cement and then I laid down peel-and-stick vinyl tiles."
The floor tiles cost £120, while she also spent £30 on cupboard handles, £10 on plasterboard, £9 on concrete repair, £9 on furniture paint and £7 on grout.
She used paint, filler and tape leftover from previous jobs, bringing the total bill to £185.
Jane shared a video of the transformation to Facebook, racking up hundreds of likes as one person commented to say: "Absolutely stunning, well done you - amazing transformation and job."
And another added: "Just goes to show what a little bit of hard graft can do. Well done you, looks fantastic."
What do you think of the transformation? Let us know in the comments.
